Abstract
The compatibility of team member personality traits has long been an area of interest for group dynamics’ theorists because of their potential effect on cooperative group efforts (Neuman & Wright, 1999). Although previous research in sport has demonstrated that the effectiveness of leadership behaviours is moderated by follower narcissism (Arthur, Woodman, Ong, Hardy, & Ntoumanis, 2011), little is known about how relative levels of narcissism—between a leader and a follower—influence group dynamics. To begin to unpack this relationship, the present study considers how the compatibility between follower and leader narcissism may influence group goal commitment. One hundred and fifty eight team sport athletes (males = 73, females = 85, Mage= 23.89, SD = 5.66) from 22 interdependent sport teams completed measures of narcissism (NPI-16; Ames, Rose, & Anderson, 2006) and goal commitment (adapted from Weldon & Weingart, 1991). The captain of each team was identified via a brief demographic questionnaire. To examine whether the relationship between follower narcissism and group goal commitment varied as a function of team captain narcissism, we conducted a moderated regression analysis. Results revealed both follower narcissism and team captain narcissism were related to group goal commitment; however, these associations were qualified by a significant interaction between follower and team captain narcissism (p <.05). Levels of group goal commitment were highest when followers and team captains both scored low in narcissism (1 SD below mean), whereas the group goal commitment of athletes high in narcissism (1 SD above mean) did not vary as a function of their team captain’s narcissism. The findings support the notion that follower and leader personality traits can interact to influence group processes, and suggest that future research is warranted to further explore the nature of these interactions and their effect upon team functioning.
